So I'm currently sitting in my "Chem 101" chemistry class during summer semester at BYU in Provo. Back in February when I was choosing which classes I wanted to take I decided that taking Chemistry would be moderately challenging but still mostly just a refresher course to the three years worth of chemistry classes I took in my sophomore and junior years of High School.
Mr. Weiss was my chemistry teacher at Mandarin High in Jacksonville Fl. and despite the fact that our curriculum was mandated by Cambridge University in Britain, who's program directors just so happen to think that students and teachers alike have nothing better to do with there time than to teach, learn, breathe, dream, and exist within their subject material, Mr Weiss did a fantastic job of teaching us Chemistry.
That being said, I didn't pass the AP test and the AICE test (the one from Cambridge) was a total joke. I've never spent more time drawing funny faces on a test paper in my whole academic career. I was proud of several of the Pro-America puns I included on the grading sheet that was meant for "Graders Only". NO, the testing at the end of the year was difficult and at times overwhelming and i did not do well. However I did learn the material, even if often it was only through passive participation of being around it every day for two years.
Apparently my head had more Chemistry knowledge than I thought buzzing around in it because upon entering this college level chemistry class for the first time I realized just how prepared for the course I really was. My professor is a fine teacher and he obviously knows his stuff, but I often find myself ,(like now), preoccupied in class with seemingly more productive ventures like trying to learn my way around Google+ or researching online for my paper due in my Book of Mormon 121 class with Bro. Belnap. The material is just too easy!
Its not that I'm talented in the subject, i enjoy it, but I'm not particularly good at it: but the problems this semester have been easy to the point of boredom. For instance, my first test was last week. I almost missed it! My very first test in college and I found myself sprinting across campus to make it to the testing center before the time I thought it would close. I found, upon stumbling into the upstairs office, that I still had about four hours to take the test. Notwithstanding this, my heart was racing far above normal levels in thin mountain air and I'm pretty sure that I was at less than peak test taking performance as I sat down and blew through the 45 question exam in about twenty minutes.
One of the cool features about the testing center is that scan-tron (multiple choice) tests re graded on the spot and by the time you walk downstairs the results of your exam are displayed on a T.V screen next to the last four numbers of your student I.D number. I got a 94%. On an exam I didn't study for. My heart rate was at about 200 a minute from trying to quickly but suavely fly across campus to make it to the exam "on time". WHAAAAA?!?!
I never once made a 94% on a Chem test in High school. This is crazy. This is unheard of for me. This. Is. So. AWESOME. I managed to pick the one class that I could pass from day one that fulfilled my G.E requirement for science and I did so as my very first college course. Pretty lucky if you ask me.
SO, because of all this, I've decided to send my wonderful High School Chem teacher, Mr. Weiss, a thank you note. It will probably go something like this;
Yo Weiss,
YOU ROCK!
-Brady
He will appreciate it.
